Dale Jr. isn't a title threat, but can still leave mark on the Chase
tim tuttle
Dale Earnhardt Jr. resurfaced at Chicagoland, finishing third in the Chase opener. Considering how he'd closed out the regular season, it seems unlikely anybody saw Earnhardt coming, but it didn't surprise him.
"You know what, I felt like we would do well in the Chase," Earnhardt said. "These are good tracks for me. And the tracks where I ran poorly just aren't. If you look at my track record, I don't run good at those tracks. I felt we would rebound and kind of return to the form we started at the beginning of the year."
Earnhardt hadn't had a top-five finish since taking second at Kansas on June 5. Chicagoland was his third top-10 in the past 14 races. Earnhardt was third in the points leaving Kansas and he was the final automatic Chase qualifier on points.
Making the Chase was an accomplishment for Earnhardt. He hadn't been in Sprint Cup's 10-race championship since 2008 and was coming off seasons of 25th in the points in 2009 and 21st in 2010. Rick Hendrick's decision to shuffle crew chiefs following last season worked out well for both Jeff Gordon and Earnhardt, who was paired with Steve Letarte.
"We've had a good run this year," Earnhardt said. "We've been a good team. We really overshadowed just how good we were with how poorly we ran in the last 10 weeks. Hopefully, we'll take this opportunity in the Chase to prove to everyone and ourselves how good we can be."
The Chase will define Junior's season. He hasn't shown the speed to win the championship or a race, but some top-fives and a cluster of top-10s could land him in the top three or four in points and thrust him into the offseason with momentum that would carry into Daytona in February. Earnhardt and Letarte would know they're really on the right track.
Earnhardt is capable of winning one of the so-called fuel mileage races and there figures to be more this season. He's skillful at saving fuel and maintaining a decent pace. He showed it at Chicagoland and his second at Kansas was the same type. So was his win at Michigan in 2008.
It was going to be a top-10 at Chicagoland for Earnhardt regardless of how much was left in his tank. He was sixth with two laps to go.
"Obviously, we gained a lot of spots there at the end with guys that were short of fuel," Earnhardt said. "But we were running really well at the end. The car struggled off and on throughout the day. We didn't have great track position, either. I was real happy with being able to adjust the car, improve it. That's all you can ask for as a driver, that the car gets better all day long.
"We tried to be really smart and utilize every minute in practice and try to really focus on practice and get everything out of it. And we tried to just be really smart about our adjustments and what we were trying to learn from the car throughout the weekend so we could put a good car out on the grid. I think we did a good job of that. We never worried about our fuel mileage. We started saving gas and backing off with about 20 to go. It started running out at [Turn] 4, but ran to the finish line. It wouldn't have made another lap."
Earnhardt will be returning to tracks in the Chase where he's had his best results this season. In addition to Kansas, he was also second at Martinsville. Talladega is the most unpredictable race remaining, but Earnhardt is one of the best restrictor-plate racers in Sprint Cup and was fourth there in April. He was seventh at Charlotte, ninth at Texas and 10th at Phoenix.
A fast start and a fast finish to this season would suit Earnhardt just fine, and it seems within his reach.
Delonte West explains the night of his arrest
msnbc.com
We’ve heard all sorts of stories about how DeLonte West was arrested driving a three-wheel Can-Am Spyder with multiple weapons in the trunk. We heard how the league suspended him 10 games. How he had to serve out probation. How he had to have treatment for his bipolar disorder. Through it all a caricature of a gun-toting West developed.
What we had never heard was West’s side of the story.
As part of a great feature at SLAM — go read the whole thing — West explains what happened that fateful night in the summer of 2009. The story starts with how West — an avid hunter — had the guns secured in the basement recording studio of his home in Maryland.
Everything was fine—the guns remained safely hidden—until, on the night of September 17, feeling unusually tired, West went to his bedroom pretty early, took his nightly dose of Seroquel (a drug that treats bipolar disorder) and got in bed. Shortly after falling asleep, he was startled awake by shouting.
“Ma Dukes came running upstairs into my room, cursing me, saying she wanted all these MFers out of my house,” recalls West. “I came to like, What’s going on? I was already on my Seroquel trip. A few of my cats had found some stuff in the studio and they were living the whole gangsta life thing—guns in the air and this and that,” continues West. “And I said, ‘Oh my God. What the f— are y’all doin’ in here? Y’all got to go. Momma ain’t on that. Kids are running around upstairs. It’s time to go.’”
Gassed up from the commotion, West decided it would be prudent for him to relocate the guns to an empty house he owned nearby…
“I’m on the Beltway, cruisin’,” West says, voice high, emotional and inimitable. “Soon I start realizing I’m dozing in and out. I open my eyes and I went from this lane to that. I’m swervin’, and by the time I wake up, I’m about three exits past my exit.
“There’s this truck flying beside me—” West pauses; this next part is crucial—“and I’m scared to death. So I seen an officer coming up and I try to flag him down. I pull up next to him. He slows down and I get up in front of him. I tell the officer I’m not functioning well and I’m transporting weapons… The rest of the story is what it is.”
Seriously, you need to go read the whole story.
West is now off the house arrest that hampered him last season (there was not arriving early to Celtics practices or even attending unofficial team events).
West is a free agent whenever the lockout ends. He is sure to get interest from teams to provide depth at guard.
Ohio State Depth Chart for Colorado
Quarterback Situation
Are you kidding me! Let the youngster go. What do you have to lose at this point?
Joe Bauserman and Braxton Miller are once against listed as co-starters for the game against Colorado.
Bauserman is still listed ahead of Miller with an “OR” between them, which means the Buckeyes apparently plan to rotate them again this week.
Offensive Notes
After starting the first three games at tailback, Carlos Hyde is now listed as a co-starter with Jordan Hall for week four against Colorado.
Hall is listed as the No. 1 punt returner, ahead of Fields. Hall and Jaamal Berry are listed as the two kick returners.
Neither Berry nor Rod Smith appears at tailback on the latest two-deep.
Verlon Reed is listed as the starter at one WR spot, while Chris Fields and Philly Brown are listed as co-starters at the other WR spot.
Brown missed the game against Miami and did not travel with the team because of an ankle injury.
Sophomore Marcus Hall continues to be listed as the starter at right guard, while Corey Linsley is once again listed as his backup. The two split time at right guard against Miami.
Defensive Notes
Redshirt freshman J.T. Moore is listed as the starter at DE (Leo) for the Colorado game.
True freshman Steve Miller is listed as Moore’s backup, meaning Nathan Williams will not play this week against Colorado. He had his knee scoped last Wednesday and is expected to miss a few more games.
Travis Howard is back on the depth chart this week, listed as a starter alongside Bradley Roby at cornerback. Sophomore Dominic Clarke listed as the backup.
The starting safeties will continue to be Orhian Johnson and C.J. Barnett. Sophomore Christian Bryant is listed as the backup to Johnson at safety and Tyler Moeller at “Star.”
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